


Alpha Vulpeculae

by TheSunsetsLonger



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, I apologise, don't hate me, post-revival finale, this is sad af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 21:52:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6583990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSunsetsLonger/pseuds/TheSunsetsLonger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens after the final scene in the revival. Mulder and Scully have to find William to help cure Mulder. <br/>A LOT OF ANGST AND IT'S SAD.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alpha Vulpeculae

Not long after Mulder had fallen ill at Cancer Man’s house Scully had found herself cradling his sweaty head in her lap as he gasped for air. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair wet from sweat due to his fever. He held her hand and drew small circles with his thumb in an attempt to comfort Scully as tears streamed down her cheeks. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen, this was not how they were supposed to meet their son after fifteen years.

The door opened letting a cold breeze followed by a bright light spilled into the dark warmth of the motel room, revealing Agent Miller’s tall frame slumped forward in the doorway. Unlike Mulder, Miller had yet to fall critically ill and had left them three days ago to search for William.

Scully had thought it would be impossible to find the son she left behind without a trace but with clues left by Cancer Man they could trace him to a small village south of North Carolina. Scully received a call from Miller the morning after he had left revealing that William was nowhere to be found since his adoptive parents had heard of the end of the world and fled their small town. Scully had told Miller to return home to his family, as he should be with them rather than alone looking for her son. He tried to fight her on it but Scully being her usual stubborn self won the argument and hung up. Scully sat down on the bed in her hotel room and broke down in tears because even though she would live through the end of the world her world would disappear in just a few days.

Here she was two days later with Mulder, the love of her life, dying in her arms as Agent Miller stood in the doorway looking more weak than the last time she’d seen him. Scully got up, carefully moving Mulder’s head from her lap onto a nearby pillow and walked over to help Agent Miller into the room motioning him to sit down on the chair next to the window.

Before Miller had sat down Scully heard some more footsteps outside the room followed by a knock on the still open door. She turned around hastily afraid of it being someone out to hurt them, but as she laid eyes upon the person in front of her she froze.

The boy was taller than her, not that it surprised her considering her own petite size. He wore a striped t-shirt and a grey hoodie accompanied by a windbreaker and a pair of blue jeans. His style was that of any normal 15 year old but his eyes said something else. His piercing blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair made Scully feel she was looking in a mirror. They had found him.

“Hello,” William said in a shy voice. 

“My god,” Scully gasped through her hands that were now covering her mouth. 

Overcome with emotion she knew nothing more than the need to hug her son for the first time in fifteen long years. The hug lasted several moments but was interrupted by faint coughing from Mulder causing Scully to his side and cradle his head in her lap again as she placed a cold wet towel on his forehead to keep his fever down.

“Mulder, he’s here,” she said in a whisper, “they’ve found our son.”

Mulder turned his head towards the door where his son was standing. He hadn’t seen him since he was two days old and he had never thought that would be the last time he laid eyes on his son.

Looking back at Scully he flashed her a wide smile stretching its way to his eyes where tears were starting to form. 

“I don’t know…” Mulder said coughing. “He looks suspiciously a lot like Assistant Director Walter Skinner.” 

“Mulder…” Scully replied rolling her eyes but still letting a smile tug at the corners of her mouth.

Mulder threw her his characteristic Mulder grin then returned his attention back to his son who was standing awkwardly at the opposite wall.

“Hey William. I’m Fox and I believe I am your father. This is Scully, I mean Dana, your mom.” Mulder gestured for William to sit down on the bed that he and Scully were on. He didn’t quite know how to speak to him as they had just met for the first time and considering the circumstances he figured formality was the way to go.

William obeyed and sat down fiddling his hands awkwardly as he stared at his new found parents. He gave them both a faint smile and Mulder couldn’t help but shed a tear at the sight of his son sitting just an arm’s reach away.

The afternoon passed quickly as Mulder and Scully reaquainted themselves with their son who quickly softened up to his biological parents. William told them he had always felt that there was something missing in his life and that somehow he was different to his friends and the people around him. He told them how he was batting for his high school which made Mulder light up and beam in pride. Scully had been equally as proud and told William that Mulder once taught her a thing or two about baseball as she smiled down at Mulder and gave him a quick peck on the lips. 

“We should go to the batting cage one day,” Mulder said as he sat up on the bed for the first time in 24 hours. There was something about William’s presence that gave him strength, something Scully had noticed too, it was like magic.

“That would be cool!” William exclaimed excitedly. For a 15 year old who had just met his parents for the first time he was sociable and not shy at all after those first few awkward moments.

They had talked for hours, only briefly touching upon Mulder’s illness and the reason why they had gone looking for William. 

“You know, Will, if you have any questions at all just ask. We’re here for you and we’ll tell you anything you want to know.” Scully said, taking William’s hand in hers.

Giving up William had been the toughest decision in Scully’s life and there had not been a day that she had not regretted the decision, even though she knew deep inside that it was for the best. Having her son sit in front of her in the same room as her and Mulder made it impossible for Scully not to touch him, just to make sure he was real.

“I really only have one question,” William said quietly, his shyness quickly returning to him.

“Anything.” Mulder replied and allowed for his son to continue.

“What will happen to my parents?” He looked down feeling embarrassed for bringing up the two people who raised him all these years when his real parents were sat in front of him.

Of all the things that Scully had prepared answers for this was not one of them. She had selfishly put Mulder’s life in the hands of her son, who was still unaware of the power he held. Not for one second had she thought about all the other people on the planet who would eventually become infected with the same virus that was deteriorating her boyfriend’s body. Since finding out about Mulder’s state Scully had set out a task to find William in order to transfuse his blood to Mulder so that his system could fight the virus. She knew that William couldn’t save everyone on the planet but if there was one person he needed to save it was Mulder. 

“Um… what do you mean sweetie?” Scully quickly looked to Mulder who looked equally as puzzled.

“Whatever, um, Fox has, my parents also have. They’re infected too.”

Scully felt her heart sink as she realised that the infection had not been contained in DC but had spread across the country and most likely the entire world. 

“Why was I the only one not infected?” William looked to Scully first before turning to Mulder and then Agent Miller who was still slumped on the chair on the other side of the room. “What is wrong with me?” He said in a shaky voice.

Scully could feel her tears form before she reached over and pulled William into a hug. 

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Scully said as she stroked the back of her son’s head. Just as she was about to pull away she felt the bed move before Mulder’s arms circled around her waist while the other snuck it’s way around William’s shoulders as he held them tightly. Mulder placed his lips to Scully’s temple as she leaned in, feeling more loved than ever before. 

He kissed her once more before letting go and leaning back towards the bed’s headrest. Scully followed suit and moved away from William as she wiped tears away from her cheeks.

“Sweetie listen to me. There is nothing wrong with you and you are not in any trouble. You’re just… you’re very important to a lot of people, Fox and I included.” She felt weird using Mulder’s first name but thought it necessary when speaking to William, after all he didn’t know their full story. 

Before Scully could start to explain, Agent Miller cleared his throat.

“Um, sorry to interupt but it’s getting late and I’m starving so do you guy want anything to eat?” He said awkwardly.

The three of them gave their orders to Miller and were then left alone in their motel room as he went to get the food.

 

xx

 

They sat silently for a while, waiting for someone to start speaking. Mulder had moved from his slouched position to now sit tightly next to Scully with his arm around her waist in support. In turn her hand was on his thigh drawing soft circles with her thumb, in an attempt to calm herself more than him. William looked back and forth between the two adults in front of them trying to figure out who would speak first.

The silent held for too long so William took the first step and spoke up. “Why me?” He asked curiously.

Mulder’s grip around Scully tightened as he knew she would be the one who wanted to tell William about what made him special.

“You’re different William.” Scully started quietly, not knowing quite how to carry on from there. “Long before you were born I became very sick, cancer.”

William’s face changed from curious to apologetic.

“The cancer was unnatural, it was put in me by the government. They made experiments and took away my ability to conceive. Mulder… um your fath… Fox here did everything in his power to help me beat the cancer among other things.” She smiled and Mulder who was still holding her tightly. “This was years before you came into the picture and I - we - had given up all hope.” Tears had started to pool in Scully’s eyes now remembering the tough years after her cancer and finding out she was infertile. 

“Mulder made me believe. He refused to give up on me and he was my rock, still is.” She turned to Mulder who reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks and gave her a quick kiss where the tears had once been.

“Why did they do experiments on you?” William asked, not fully understanding the whole story.

“It’s a long story,” Mulder said, speaking for the first time in a long while. “It’s all my fault to begin with.” He looked at Scully who had now aimed her eyes towards her hand that was resting on his thigh, trying to hold back tears. She was afraid that William would hate her after he found out what he was. He continued:

“We worked for the FBI for a long time in a division aimed at solving unexplainable cases. These X Files often had… um… unnatural aspects to them. Disappearances that couldn’t be explained and as I dug deeper pulling at any lead I could find I uncovered a great conspiracy.”

Mulder went quiet. He realised that this wasn’t making any sense unless he went back to the very beginning.

“Samantha.” He said. “My sister Samantha was abducted when I was very young. She was taken by something extraterrestrial and ever since then I have dedicated my life to finding her. I worked on The X Files long before Scully joined me which is the moment when I started to ruin her life.”

“You didn’t ruin my life.” Scully chimed in but Mulder only shook his head and tightened the grip he had around her waist.

“I changed her life. I put her in danger and got her abducted. They took her from me and experimented on her body, taking away the most important thing to her - the ability to be a mother. I took that away from her due to my obsession in finding the truth. The only thing I could do was help get her life back, to cure her cancer.”

“Extraterrestrial?” William asked. “Like E.T?”

Mulder chuckled, he knew this would be difficult to explain to a fifteen year old.

“Yeah, kinda like E.T. The government has used extraterrestrial DNA and technology for decades to create a weapon that is better and stronger than anything humanly possible. Super soldiers.”

“So they’re like Superman?” William said enthusiastically.

“Except, instead of kryptonite their only weakness is magnetite.” Scully explained a smile now creeping on her face. Perhaps William was more understanding than she’d thought.

“These super soldiers are the only ones immune to the infection I have. The one your parents have.” 

The room fell quiet again as Mulder allowed for William to process what he had just heard. Scully’s hand was still firm on Mulder’s thigh and was now nervously moving up and down his pyjama clad leg. Knowing her nervous tics Mulder quickly grabbed her hand and moved it towards his and placed kisses on her palm to sooth her.

“Does that mean? Am I a super soldier?” William asked nervously. “Am I not human?”

“Of course you are human.” Scully spoke up. “Look at me William. You see me right? I’m not infected but I’m not a super soldier. I’m just as human as Mulder and Agent Miller and your parents. I’m just as human as YOU.” 

She reached over and took his hand in hers. 

“Whatever experiments they did on me lead to my cancer. I got sick and I almost died. But I survived because of their technology. But then I found out I couldn’t be a mother and my whole world fell apart. Then I got pregnant and I gave birth to you and all my fears went away.” She smiled at him, feeling relieved that she was able to tell him all this.

“Then why did you give me up? If I was all you ever wanted, why did you give me away?” William asked. 

“To protect you. You are every bit as human as me and Fox, but you are different. You hold the key to something incredibly important and I couldn’t risk them taking you from me. I had to make sure you were safe.”

“Why now?” William asked, startling Scully as she hadn’t realised what a smart boy she had in front of her. “Why did you go looking for me now if you wanted to keep me safe?”

“You’re still safe William, you will always be safe I promise you that.” Mulder said breaking the silence as he saw Scully struggling to find the right words. “We’ll keep you safe for as long as you need and we’ll try to help your parents too. But now…” 

“Now we need you to help us,” Scully interrupted, finishing Mulder’s sentence.

Scully had thought about this day a thousand times but never had she imagined that the day she met her son again would be the day that she had to explain to him that his DNA was partially extraterrestrial and that he’d be an important part in saving the human race. It took her a few moments to find courage to break it to him but as she finally started to explain to William that Mulder was dying and that he was the only cure she couldn’t stop talking. 

There were so many things that she wanted to tell him and for every explanatory sentence she said she had to follow by saying how special and important William was. She didn’t want him to think that he was conceived just to save the human population from the apocalypse. And she told him that. She told him exactly why he had been born, because of the deep and unconditional love that she and Mulder shared. The decade long partnership turned romance was the only reason why William existed in the first place. All the other ingredients were just what made Scully love him even more.

“I gave you up for adoption because I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything would have happened to you. I knew that you would be safe with the Van De Kamps and seeing you here now, I know that they did me proud. You make me so proud William.” Tearing up again she felt the urge to hug William again but stopped herself and leaned into Mulder’s warm chest instead.

“It’s okay…” William started. He was obviously still confused about everything he had just been told but if there was one thing he understood clearly was how difficult it must have been for his own mother to give him up. “I don’t hate you.” He said and leaned forward to pull both Mulder and Scully in for a hug, placing his head between the theirs.

They sat like that for several minutes until they were interrupted by Agent Miller coming back with their dinner.

Miller ate with the three of them and then headed out again to his own room a few doors down. Scully followed him out and quietly told him that when they’ve retrieved the blood from William she’d help treat him too. After all Miller was not near as bad as Mulder was so he understood why he wasn’t prioritised.

Scully closed the door behind her and locked it before returning to the table where Mulder and William were sat. She knew that they didn’t have long until Mulder got worse again, there was just so much that William’s presence could do to keep Mulder feeling better, they had to start treating him before it was too late.

“Hey William I know it’s late but I need to tell you something…” Scully said in a serious tone. Even Mulder was startled at how serious she had gotten and gave her a confused look but as she continued he realised exactly what she was getting to. “You’re blood is what will cure this disease. You have probably realised that I am not infected, which is because my blood contains the same immunity that yours. But because it was given to me as an adult I cannot cure the diseased. Your blood has held the vaccine ever since you were born and therefore it is much stronger.”

William looked at her and nodded. “What do you need me to do?”

xx

Thirty minutes later Scully and William had created a makeshift nursing station where Scully had set up needles, scalpels, suture kits, and dozens more items she had stolen from the hospital before they had left the city. They lined the two beds in the motel room with plastic to protect it from blood with Mulder lying on top of one of them and William on the other. 

Scully had tended to William who was now hooked up with a needle in his arm and the red liquid was filling up a bag that hung above his bed. Mulder suddenly started to feel weaker for the first time in several hours and on doctor’s order he had fallen asleep to keep his body fighting. Scully was snuggled up against him lazily stroking his hair as she glanced at the TV and chatted with William. She had found out that his favourite subject in school was science and that he dreamed of working for NASA one day and Scully told him that Mulder would be so proud when he found out. Scully in turn told him a few of her most memorable cases with Mulder and William had been mostly curious about the vampire pizza boy in Texas. 

“Did he really drive a stake through that guy’s heart?” William said in disbelief and followed with “He does know that vampires don’t exist right?”

They both started laughing causing Mulder to wake up.

“Vampires may not exist but trust me were-monsters do! Scully tell him…” Mulder chimed in, clearly having heard their conversations.

“I saw nothing!” Scully claimed. “Anyway, I think it’s time.”

She got off the bed and went to William’s side to take the needle out of his arm and start the transfusion to give Mulder his blood.

“Ouch.” Mulder said in jest earning him a light slap from Scully. 

“Lie still or I’ll give this blood to the annoying couple in room 23,” she said, pushing the needle into the crevice of Mulder’s elbow.

“William, if you want to you can go to bed. It’s late and you’ve been through a lot today. Don’t worry about cleaning up your bed we’ve got the room next door too so you can sleep in there.”

“Thanks,” William said sheepishly and headed towards the door. He held the door handle but didn’t open the door, instead he paced back towards Scully and gave her a hug. “Thank you for keeping me safe. And thank you for finding me.”

Scully hugged him back and whispered “I love you so much William” in his ear before he headed out the door.

 

xx

After William had left Scully finished the blood transfusion to Mulder and then helped clean him up before tucking him in for the night. She took a quick shower and lazily dried her hair with a towel before joining Mulder in bed. 

They laid facing each other reminiscing about the day that had just gone. Mulder was looking a lot stronger than he had earlier that day which allowed Scully to relax for the first time in a week.

“He’s just like you,” Scully said, pushing a wayward lock of hair from Mulder’s face and caressed his cheek. “He believes in people and is so compassionate, that’s all you Mulder.”

“Our son,” Mulder said quietly and smiled. “He’s perfect in every way and a spitting image of you. Definitely got my height but everything else is you Scully. He’s your son through and through.”

Scully felt her eyes started to flood with tears as she inched her face closer to Mulder’s, closing the gap between them. Her lips grazed his lightly before taking his bottom lip between hers. She felt his arm wrap around her lower back pulling her towards him so their bodies met.

“He says he wants to work for NASA,” Scully said breaking the kiss. 

“Oh, he is most definitely my son!” Mulder’s face lit up and he drew Scully in for another kiss, this time adding his tongue into the mixture. 

He slipped his hand towards Scully’s ass, causing her to giggle in his mouth which only encourage Mulder to move his hand to the front of her panties.

“Mulder, I really don’t think…” she couldn’t finish her sentence before his hand was inside her underwear.

“Scully, I’m gonna be fine! Don’t leave me hanging here,” he said as he pushed his hardon towards her thigh.

She let herself go for a moment, running her hands over Mulder’s bare chest and down his back, kissing him deeply. The heat at her center grew as he stroked her making her moan into his mouth.

Despite the longing for his body, she could hear Dana Scully MD in the back of her mind telling her that this was not a good idea. After all, Mulder had been on the verge of the unthinkable just a few days ago and they had just met their son for the first time today. A few more minutes passed with further kissing and fondling until the doctor in her pulled her out of the moment. She withdrew her hand from the inside of his boxers and moved back from him breaking their kiss.

Mulder’s mouth followed hers as if they were magnets of polar opposites and their lips met again. This was their bodies ways of saying that they were meant for each other, no matter what they’d always find their way back.

“Mulder…” Scully said finally pulling away and placed her hand upon his chest in an attempt to keep him from staying put. “I just. It’s been a long day and right now I just want to look at you.”

He laid his head back on his pillow and reached for her hand that was still resting on his chest. Bringing it up to his mouth he kissed it and interlaced their fingers,gazing into her eyes. They laid still for what felt like days as they took in each other’s presence. For the first time in years they were in each other’s arms and just were. There were no expectations and no hard feelings, all that existed in that room at this very moment was love.

xx

A distance scream forced Scully awake. She untangled herself from Mulder’s heavy arms that always embraced her whenever they slept in the same bed. With hurried steps she opened the door to their room and headed outside, following the screams. 

She didn’t have to run far as the noise was coming from the room next door, William’s room. The door was locked but she kicked down the door without thinking twice about it and rushed into the room. 

A bright light was streaming in through the bathroom window forcing Scully’s eyes to adjust to the sudden change in brightness. The bed in which William had slept in was empty with the sheets tossed and the duvet hung off the bed in the direction of the bathroom. 

Scully’s immediate thought were along the lines of William feeling ill from the blood transfusion but never in her decades as a medical doctor had she ever experienced a patient screaming in pain from a transfusion.

“WILLIAM!?” Scully shouted in the direction of the bright light.

“MOM?! MOOOOOOOM!” 

The response came from within the white light causing Scully’s heartbeat to triple. She sprinted into the bathroom with her left hand covering her eyes from the light and her other arm searching for her son. 

She couldn’t see anything but felt a cold breeze creep around her neck making the hairs stand erect on her skin and goosebumps spread down her spine.

“WILLIAM!” Scully yelled again, trying to find her bearings to where her son could be.

“MOM HELP ME!!!!” 

Scully took a step forward and suddenly the brightness disappeared. She looked up and saw her fifteen year old son floating in the air just above her head, blocking the brightest that was beaming through the open window. Realising what was happening she quickly grabbed his hand that was stretched out towards her and tried to pull him down, but to no avail. William’s floating body started to move towards the window and whatever was pulling him out was much stronger than Scully.

“MOOOOOOOM!!!!” was the last thing she heard before the force pulled him out the window and the room went dark. 

Scully jolted awake and could feel her hair stick to her sweaty temples as she woke from her nightmare. It seemed so real that she hurriedly removed herself from Mulder’s embrace and exited the room while she tied her dressing gown round her waist. She quickly paced the distance between her and Mulder’s room to the next door where William was sleeping.

She knocked on the door and waited until she heard footsteps. The door opened, exposing a newly awakened William with disheveled hair and a bare chest. He really was just like Mulder, sleeping in just pyjama bottoms. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” William asked rubbing sleep from his eyes. 

“Nothing, I was just coming to see if you wanted breakfast?” Scully replied simply, not wanting to scare William.

“Yeah, thanks, give me half an hour and I’ll be over.”

Scully went back to her room and headed for the shower to wash herself from her nightmare. As she got out of the shower she tied the towel tightly around her wet body and exited the bathroom to see Mulder awake and well. He was sat against the headrest watching the news on the TV.

“It’s spread Scully. There are reports of the infection in Istanbul and Nairobi.” Mulder said watching Scully drop her towel and step into a pair of lace panties. “Wow…” His jaw dropped as he saw her naked body in the morning light as if it were the first time.

“C’mon Mulder, you’ve seen this a thousand times.” Scully said brushing off his comments and continued getting dressed. “Besides we don’t have time, William is coming over in ten minutes so you better get a move on.”

Mulder got out of bed but instead of heading into the shower he walked towards Scully and trapped her against the wall where she was standing, now fully dressed. He leant down, nibbling at her neck with his lips. Using his left hand he traced down her side from her neck to her ass while moving his lips towards hers. He caught her bottom lip before she could move away and she accepted his tongue willingly as they deepened the kiss. 

Mulder was the first to break the kiss but didn’t move more than inch to look her in the eye. Scully smiled and looked wondering at Mulder before he spoke.

“The world didn’t end.” he said with a smile.

Her mouth mimicked his smile and quickly kissed him again before he went into the bathroom.

xx 

Scully had run down to the motel reception and found a variety of food that would serve as breakfast and had place them on the table in her and Mulder’s room. They had finished eating and now Mulder and William were deep in conversation about Will’s dreams of working for the NASA. Scully could hear how Mulder was giving him so much support and encouragement to chase his dreams and couldn’t tell him enough how much he believed in his son.

As William went back to his room to call his parents Scully sat down with Mulder and told him about her nightmare.

“It felt so real,” Scully said. “He was abducted just like Samantha, just like you.”

“Scully he’s fine, we’re fine. Nothing’s going to happen to us now, we’ve done everything in our power to try and stop this infection.” Mulder said reassuringly. “Look at me, I’m fit as a fiddle.” 

Scully tried to smile but her nightmare was still a vivid memory and she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She cleaned up after breakfast as Mulder laid back in bed on doctor’s orders. Even though he had received William’s blood she was still unsure if it had worked so she didn’t want to take any chances.

Realising she hadn’t seen Agent Miller in over 12 hours, Scully headed out the door and over to his room. Miller opened the door and let her into the room.

“I brought your cure.” Scully said, placing a bag of William’s blood on the table along with the kit she’d need for the transfusion. “Figured you’d need it.” She eyed Miller who had become increasingly worse since she had seen him last and told him to lay down on his bed. Out of routine she inserted the needle into his arm and hung the bag above his head, letting it empty into his body. 

They chatted for a while, after all the blood had been transferred, before Scully decided to head back to Mulder and William.

“Thank you for everything,” Agent Miller said and gave Scully a hug. “For everything.”

Scully said it was the least she could do in these dire moments and wished there was more she could do for Agent Miller’s family. 

As she headed for the door she noticed that Miller’s bags were packed and his suitcase was ready to go. She turned back to face him and gave him a knowing smile and with that she said goodbye.

xx

For the first time in a few days Scully felt happy. She had helped Agent Miller get his life back and she knew that Mulder and her son were in the room a few doors down. She stopped on the landing a couple rooms down from her family and looked up towards the morning sun. This moment right here was to remain the most peaceful of her life, she had never felt more at ease and never would. 

As she opened her eyes again she saw a figure to her right coming towards her at high speed. Before she could see who it was she heard a familia voice.

“DANA! It’s Fox he’s… I don’t know HURRY!” It was William who was running towards her in his barefeet and grabbed her hand quickly to pull her towards their room. 

The minute she stepped into the motel room she knew what was happening. 

“WILLIAM GET WATER! NOW!” She yelled in his direction as she hurried to Mulder’s side.

“Baby... Mulder I need you to look at me! Look at me!” Scully ordered but to no avail as Mulder’s eyes wouldn’t stick to one focal point. She could see his eyes darting from side to side as his pupils dilated to cover his entire iris, only leaving a thin outline of hazel. 

Fear struck her worse than ever before and Scully froze. It wasn’t until William was back at her side until she snapped out of it and could retract Scully the girlfriend to become Dana Scully the medical doctor.

For the first time in her life she didn’t know how to treat her patient, it didn’t make any sense that Mulder was getting worse after receiving William’s blood as a vaccine. She had done everything that she had been told during her years on the X Files, she had followed every last word that the Cigarette Smoking Man had told her, yet her she was completely unaware of what was about to happen.

Panic struck Scully as she saw Mulder’s eyes roll to the back of his head and his mouth fall open. His body started to shake uncontrollably and his muscled tensed up as he rode through his seizure. Scully supported him so he wouldn’t fall off the bed and as his body relaxed she reached for the water that William was holding in his hands. She took the glass from him and offered it to Mulder who had regained consciousness.

“Hey, you’re gonna be fine.” Scully said stroking his face. “You’re just reacting to the blood but you’re gonna be fine.” 

She repeated the words, not in an attempt to calm Mulder down, but because she had to persuade herself that he would be fine. The amount of times Mulder had ended up in hospital during their time on the X Files had got her used to him getting injured and being fine after a night in hospital.

“I love you,” Mulder said as he stilled Scully in his arms, his hand resting on her waist. “It’s okay, Scully, it’s okay.”

Tears started streaming down Scully’s face uncontrollably. She looked towards William who stood frozen with the cup of water in his hand. Scully reached for his hand and pulled him towards her so he was sat in between her and Mulder. 

“I just came back and he was on the floor I didn’t know what was happening and I ran to get you and you looked so happy and now everything is falling apart and I don’t know what I did wrong,” William said, spitting out the words in a shaky voice. 

Tears were streaming down his face and his body was trembling in fear. He was supposed to be their saviour, to help Mulder get better but now his father was sicker than before and it felt like it was all his fault.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he repeated. He couldn’t take the closeness anymore so he moved off the bed and went to sit on the floor in the faraway corner of the room. He wrapped himself in a ball, his arms holding his knees close to his chest. “I’m sorry,” he said again until his voice was drowned in sobs. 

Scully stayed on the bed stroking Mulder’s cheek softly with her knuckles. She dabbed the damp towel along his hairline and wiped drops of tears that had fallen from her face onto his nose. 

“I’ll find Cancerman, I’ll find him and he’ll cure you,” Scully said between sobs.

“No Scully. I need you,” a cough erupts from Mulder’s chest, a speck of blood colouring his white t-shirt. “I need you here Scully. Right now, just, I need you to know that I love you. I love you Dana.”

It was the use of her first name that hit her the hardest. Even as a couple he never referred to her as Dana, it was always Scully. She knew that whenever he called her Dana it had deep meaning to it, it was like an extension to ‘I love you’. ‘Dana’ had become his way of really getting his words through to her, she knew that when he called her Dana that it was important. 

She looked him in the eyes and saw nothing but peace. If it was her in his position then her eyes would be filled with fear, she thought to herself. But Mulder knew, he had always known that Scully wouldn’t give up on him, the belief that he had for her was stronger than anything and he knew she would be okay eventually. 

Mulder grabbed Scully’s hand that was holding the towel and brought it down to his chest, resting it above his heart. He used his other arm to pull her down to his level so she laid beside him with her head resting on his shoulder, their hands still connected, feeling his heart grow weaker. 

There were so many things that Scully wanted to tell him but her jaw was clenched shut so she couldn’t get any of the words out. She stretched her neck to kiss his scruffy jaw that was lined in sweat from the fever. 

“We did good Scully,” Mulder whispered into her red hair as he stroked her back in a soothing manner. 

She didn’t know if he meant life in general or the life that was crying in the corner of the room, but what she did know that it was all thanks to Mulder. 

“Knowing the truth was out there and wanting to believe is what made it good. Your belief got us through it Mulder.” Scully said, finally finding the strength to speak. Her voice was quiet and shaky but her mouth was so close to his ear that Mulder had no problem hearing her. 

“You made me believe Scully, you kept me alive all this time. The way my heart beat a little faster every time you stepped into our office, how my smile was always wider when I was with you, that’s what kept us whole.” Mulder’s voice became more and more strained and his breaths were short and weary. 

His coughing picked up, causing his white t-shirt splatter in blood coloured saliva, Scully wiped his mouth with the towel and caressed his jaw with her thumb. As Mulder’s heartbeat slowly decreased her own picked up. Fear was setting in as an adrenaline hit kicked in, causing her get out of bed and start pacing round the small hotel room. 

She checked on William who was still curled up on the floor, his sobbing had stopped and he looked up at her with sad eyes. Cully grabbed him and pulled him off the floor and into an embrace. “It’s not your fault”, she whispered in his ear and led him to sit down on the bed where Mulder was lying. 

She walked round to Mulder’s side and crouched down to look him in the eyes. His green eyes that held so much loved and devotion to her were starting to fade behind heavy eyelids. 

She felt hopeless for the first time since she had found Mulder’s lifeless body in the forest after his abduction all those years ago. There was nothing she could do to save him now. His heartbeat was weak and his breaths were shallow. His skin was still warm but his fingertips on her cheek left a cold feeling, almost as if he was a ghost, a distant memory of a past love. 

“... billion,” Mulder said in a cough. His voice was weak and uncertain. 

“What?” Scully asked through a sob, her eyes searching his for a answer. 

He coughed again, took a deep breath and licked his lips to speak again. “My one in 7.5 billion.”

A sad smile spread across her face as a tear caught in the corner of her mouth. She cupped his face in her small hands and kissed him on the lips, nose, cheeks, and finally on his forehead. The kiss lingered for several minutes, her tears soaking his skin. 

She didn’t pull away until she realised that the soft puffs of air upon her neck had stopped. The room was so quiet while a stillness filled the space where they laid. It was just like the thousands of previous times they had shared a motel room bed but this time Scully was alone. His body was still here, but his soul was elsewhere.

Scully didn’t move for what felt like hours. She felt a soft hand on her shoulder, it was William. His lips were moving but she couldn’t hear anything. He helped her away from the bed where Mulder was lying. She didn’t want to leave him, she wanted to stay there forever in his arms that were losing heat for every minute that passed. 

Scully sat down on one of the chairs and just stared, straight past William who was trying his best to comfort her. She came to after a few minutes as her tears started up again as her brain started to process the most recent event. William crouched down and took her into his arms and held her as she cried on his shoulder. She fell asleep in the chair and slept until evening when she woke up in William’s bed, he must have carried her into his room, she thought. 

She was alone in the room so she walked outside to find William standing against the railings staring up at the starry nightsky. Scully walked up and stood beside him, close enough for their shoulders to brush letting him know she was awake. He was much taller than her, almost as tall as Mulder so she definitely knew he was his son, not that she had any doubt about it. She put her arm around his waist and leant her head on his shoulder looking up at the same stars as her and Mulder used to gaze at.

“These stars have been through a lot. The things they’ve seen...” she said, her voice trailing off at the end.

“I love astronomy,” William said not taking his eyes off the sky. “The mapping of the constellations and how you can look up into the sky and know that you’re always connected to something, to someone.”

“Hmm..” She said. “You know Mulder always had his eyes directed at the stars. He believed there was something more to it than just billions of years worth of light carried through the past, present and future.”

“They’re like souls,” William said, turning his head to look down at Scully. 

“Looking for homes,” she replied finishing his sentence.

“Exactly.” William smiled at her before looking back up at the stars.

They remained silent for a moment just gazing at the millions of bright lights that were above them.

“Which one do you think is Fox?” William said, breaking the silence.

Scully looked around trying to find which one could be Mulder. The stars seemed so cold tonight, a little duller than usual but there was one that shone a little bit brighter than the others.

“There,” she said pointing towards the brightest star.

“That’s Alpha Vulpeculae,” William said with a little laugh.

“Why is that funny?” Scully asked not taking her eyes off the star.

“It’s just…” he exhaled “It’s the brightest star in Velpecula constellation.” William looked at Scully as she turned to look at him, he smiled at her and continued. “It means “Little Fox” in Latin.”

Scully smiled back at him a single tear falling down her cheek. William pulled her into a hug and they stood like that for a long couple of minutes.

“Did he really drive a stake through that man’s heart?” William said with the same amount of fascination as the first time he had heard the story.

Scully nodded, a slight smile forming on her lips. “Yeah, he really did,” she chuckled, remembering the fear on Mulder’s face as he realized what he had done. “He really did,” she said repeating herself into William’s chest.

This was only the first of thousands of times where Scully would find herself looking up at her Little Fox in the sky as she reminisced with William about her adventures with Mulder.

**Author's Note:**

> I am truly sorry for what I put you through. This is my first time writing a plot driven piece and I think I did okay.
> 
> I'm sorry he had to die but I wanted to convey the idea that Scully and William would spend decades and centuries together in their immunity.


End file.
